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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23855818">the animal inside</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterLadyy/pseuds/winterbitch'>winterbitch (WinterLadyy)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Animal Transformation, Established Relationship, Feral Jaskier | Dandelion, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Minor Violence, Soft Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, big cat jaskier, he's a dangerous killing machine who purrs and demands pets, there ain't no lark or wolf here sorry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 21:42:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,665</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23855818</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterLadyy/pseuds/winterbitch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jaskier is a victim of a spell that's supposed to make him take the form of whatever animal is inside his soul. Geralt expects a lark, maybe a blue jay or some songbird. What he gets is a huge cat with jaws capable of biting a man's arm off. He's not sure why he's surprised.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia &amp; Jaskier | Dandelion, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1711</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the animal inside</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this was just a drabble on tumblr but i needed to write sth silly and funny so here it is</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When the sorcerer throws the spell at Jaskier, Geralt expects many things but not what he actually sees.</p><p>The spell is meant to unravel the animal inside one’s soul and turn the person into it. It’s a cynic irony and it’s not deadly, so Geralt can’t exactly kill the sorcerer. It’s just annoying, especially as Jaskier gets hit. Geralt is sure he’ll have some kind of songbird, or a lark or another annoying singing bird stuck by his side for the next 2 weeks.</p><p>What he isn't expecting is for a big shape to jump on the sorcerer and close its jaws on the man’s neck with a crunch.</p><p>“Jaskier!” he yells, sword in his hand. Did something go wrong?</p><p>Then, Geralt gets a good look at the animal and all words die. Jaskier, for it must be Jaskier, is some kind of big cat. Sleek and tawny brown, with moving ears and a long tail. He’s big, not quite as large as some tigers Geralt saw, but big enough. Big paws and strong jaws, shockingly blue eyes.</p><p>“Jaskier,” Geralt mutters.</p><p>Jaskier huffs at him and then goes still. Geralt sees him look at his paws and then turn in a circle, chasing his tail. Then, Jaskier plops down on his rear and makes a small chirp, ears standing tall.</p><p>The Witcher comes closer hesitantly and the cat pushes his head into his hand. Geralt starts to pet him while looking. There’s solid muscle in the animal’s chest, sleek but powerful and his legs are strong, capable. He looks like a killing machine with a feral glint in his eyes and for a second, Geralt wonders why he was expecting a bird.</p><p>It’s not some cliche, it’s what’s inside. And inside, Jaskier is definitely not a frolicking bird singing to the sun and escaping predators, so he’s not that surprised to see a feral big cat with stunning blue eyes. His bard may look silly and like a coward most of the time, but Geralt spent enough time with Jaskier to know just how much aggression and deadly intent is hiding underneath his colorful doublets and silly smiles. </p><p>“Only you, Jaskier,” Geralt says dryly and gets headbutted in the side. “Now you have to help with hunting, no saying that you can’t see in the dark. You’ll eat more as well, and I’m not hunting an entire deer every day.”</p><p>Jaskier just huffs again and yawns, uncomfortably large teeth on display, as well as the strong jaw. Geralt’s aware that he’s probably strong enough to chop a human arm off with those jaws and well, lets hope that Jaskier has enoiugh control left not to go around killing peoiple. It’s bad enough when he’s drunk and has a dagger. Geralt remembvers too many situations in which he had to drag Jaskier away from somebody before the bard turned them into a pincushion for his daggers.</p><p>Now he doesn’t have opposable thumbs but the claws and fangs more than make up for it. Geralt’s also pretty sure that he can jump higher than a human bard can, so his chances of stopping Jaskier before he kills someone go down quite a bit.</p><p>There’s no point in crying over the dead sorcerer. Jaskier reacted like a threatened animal and Geralt knows enough about those curses to understand that while his bard is still there, that human intelligence is still there, the animalistic instincts are almost overwhelming sometimes. He’s not about to blame Jaskier for defending himself.</p><p>They set off again because they’re used to weird things and it’s far from the last dead sorcerer they left behind. Geralt will look around for either Yennefer or Triss because he’s not sure if the curse will wear off on it’s own, but for now the sun is setting and they still have some ground to cover.</p><p>Jaskier takes to his new form with delight as they travel.</p><p> </p><p>He jumps around, chases birds, snaps his jaws from time to time and runs around Roach. His horse just weathers it with never ending patience and it kind of looks as if they’re communicating but Geralt is just too tired to care for that right now.</p><p>After some thinking he comes to the conclusion that Jaskier must be some kind of moutain lion, as they’re known down south. They aren’t very common but Geralt heard stories of the damage they can cause and seeing the muscles in Jaskier’s haunches and his powerful jaw, he absolutely believes them.</p><p>“Jaskier?” he calls finally and his bard comes back, blue eyes as intelligent as before. Privately. Geralt breathes out a sigh of relief. “We’ll stop here. Go and find dinner, i’ll make the camp.”</p><p>Jaskier huffs as if offended so Geralt rolls his eyes. “I’m currently the only one with opposable thumbs and I don’t want to see if you’re able to light a fire like that. Go.”</p><p>The big cat looks at him for a long moment before disappearing between the bushes soundlessly. Geralt is secretly impressed with how well Jaskier adapted to the new form and how we’ll he’s utilizing it. He kind of expected the bard to trip over his own paws and chase his tail a lot, but it seems like Jaskier is determined to keep surprising him today.</p><p>It takes just a moment to light a fire and set their camp. Geralt rolls out only one bedroll and he’s almost sure Jaskier will complain so he takes a rough blanket and sets it on the ground next to his bedroll. After that it’s just a matter of gathering firewood and setting everything, and then waiting for Jaskier to come back.</p><p>He’s gone long enough for Geralt to worry but finally, he hears quiet footsteps and the sound of dragging.</p><p>Geralt looks up just as Jaskier drags a deer, holding its neck between his jaws. The cat drops it in front of Geralt and almost preens, expecting praise. The Witcher stares at him for a second before giving him a smile, reaching for his knife.</p><p>Jaskier makes a series of sounds as he settles down next to Geralt, as if he’s still human and prattling on about something. Geralt doesn’t want to admit how much it comforts him.</p><p>Like that, he can also feel the vibration of Jaskier’s chest as he rumbles and purrs, a brush of his soft fur when his ears flicker. Geralt doesn’t talk but he listens as Jaskier vocalises, sometimes even huffing to a melody. It makes him smirk a bit, and Jaskier puffs up proudly when he sees it.</p><p>Soon enough he has the deer prepped and done, so he folds the pelt, intending to sell it in the nearest village. He needs to make money in some way now, as Jaskier won’t be able to sing until the curse it lifted.</p><p>“Raw or roasted?” he asks his companion, motioning towards the internal organs he set to the side.</p><p>Jaskier’s ears flick again and then he gets up to slowly eat the meat. It’s not animalistic in nature. He makes sure to eat cleanly, helping himself with a paw, chewing as much as he can. It’s such a Jaskier thing to do, Geralt just shakes his head and roasts his own meat.</p><p>He puts the rest to be dried, but he suspects it won’t last long. Animal metabolism is much quicker than human’s usually, and now Jaskier is using all four limbs and also can’t sweat so his body can overheat. Geralt makes a mental note to stock on some meat in the next village.</p><p>“You’ll have to stay behind when I'm in a village,” Geralt finally notices.</p><p>Jaskier looks up from his meal, ears dropping but he nods. It’s a bit strange to see a wild animal nod like that but his blue eyes make the big cat undoubtedly Jaskier. With any other person, Geralt would be worried about potential danger they would make, but it’s Jaskier. Geralt knows him and he’ll be the first to notice if his bard starts behaving differently.</p><p>“I won’t be long,” is all he can promise.</p><p>Jaskier sighs and settles even closer, making that deep rumbling sound. He can’t seem to purr like a cat, but the rumbling is more than nice. Geralt starts to pet him gently, not unlike what he does when Jaskier is asleep on his chest. In this form it seems to be even nicer as Jaskir artches into the touch and leans his whole body against Geralt.</p><p>He eats like that, with the animal almost draped over his lap and lets Jaskier steal a few bites. It’s really not that different from how their nights usually go. Much more silent, because Jaskier can’t talk, but not comotelefy out of the ordinary. </p><p>Jaskier plops down on his chest when they settle to sleep, and Geralt huffs out a laugh. He’s not sure how well he can keep warm in this form, so he throws a light blanket over them. Geralt falls asleep with his bard rumbling in his ear, warm and comfortable.</p><p>His bard appears okay with his new form and, over the next few days on the road, he becomes quite efficient like that. Geralt doesn’t even have to hunt and he suspects it quietens down the animalistic instincts in Jaskier, so he lets him take care of it.</p><p>All in all, nothing bad happens, as surprising as it is. Geralt gets his coin from the contract, sells the deer pelt along with 2 rabbit skins and they set off again, in search of Yennefer. She’s never too far away from them, and it’s only a matter of a few days when Geralt is actively looking for her.</p><p>She happens upon them in the middle of a forest, when the sun is setting and Jaskier is out hunting.</p><p>“Geralt,” she greets him warmly, perfectly dressed even in the middle of a forest. “How nice to see you here.”</p><p>“Yen,” he replies. “We need your help.”</p><p>She laughs but settles down on the grass, graceful as if it’s a priceless rug in some palace. Geralt does the same, going back to whetting his sword, content to explain when Jaskier gets there. Yennefer, howwser, doesn’t like to wait.</p><p>“Well? Spit it out, Geralt.”</p><p>“Jaskier got cursed,” he says curtly.</p><p>Yennefer snorts. “Of course he did. Your bard cannot seem to stay out of trouble, can he?” </p><p>Geralt shrugs. “It was a contract. The mage was crazy.”</p><p>Her lips curl in displeasure but she doesn’t comment on that. “What’s the curse, then? I swear, Geralt, it’s easier to make stones bleed than to make you talk.”</p><p>“He got changed into an animal. Supposedly the animal ‘inside his soul’, whatever that means.”</p><p>That makes her laugh. “Oh, dear, that must be painful for you.” At his confused expression she explains, “It must be difficult to have a lark constantly thrilling in your ear.”</p><p>Geralt winces and is about to explain more when Jaskier comes back, almost jumping into the clearing with 2 rabbits caught in his jaws. Yennefer jumps to her feet and Geralt would smile if she wasn’t about to kill his bard.</p><p>“That's Jaskier,” he says dryly before she has a chance to hurt Jaskier.</p><p>“That's him? A mountain lion?” Yennefer asks, badly hiding her shock.</p><p>Jaskier just huffs and drops the dead rabbits by Geralt’s feet, chest puffing out. The Witcher smirks, petting him. “Good job.”</p><p>The bard curls up by his side after that and seems perfectly content to keep ignoring Yennefer the whole time. As for the sorceress, she’s recovered from her shock and instead is kneeling down by Jaskier’s side.</p><p>“Fascinating,” she breathes. “Usually, they create such spells to take the form of whatever animal they want. This is much more complicated.”</p><p>At that, Jaskier perks up, ears standing tall, tail leashing uncomfortably. Geralt lays a hand on his back and starts scratching to settle him down.</p><p>“What do you mean?” he asks, taking Jaskier’s role in interrogations.</p><p>“I’m not sure if I’ll be able to completely reverse it,” Yennefer informs them, making Geralt’s stomach drop. Fuck. he really was counting on her getting rid of the curese and tyhem going on their way but…</p><p>“Meaning?” Geralt asks instead of wondering, knowing his bard is probably about to explode from nerves. His tail is swishing wildly and the fur on his back is starting to raise.</p><p>“I won’t leave him in a weird half-form, don’t worry,” she assures, smirking when Jaskier stops growing. “But the need to change forms from time to time may remain. It’s a powerful spell tired directly to the bard’s soul and removing it completely could remove a part of who he is. I’m not certain it will, but the danger is high.</p><p>Geralt winces. He’s not ready to take a risk like that, not when Jaskier isn’t in any danger.</p><p>“If I do what’s completely safe, he’ll be able to remain human for the most part. I’ve never done this, but the books say that there will be a need to change from time to time. Resisting will be uncomfortable at first and painful the longer he remains human.”</p><p>Jaskier’s ears are dropping so Geralt lays a hand between them, letting Jaskier push his muzzle against his neck. He hugs the cat tightly, already sure of his decision. Still, it’s Jaskier’s choice.</p><p>“Which one?”</p><p>Jaskier stays quiet, before sighing again and pulling away to look Geralt in the eyes. As much as he likes this form, Geralt misses his bard’s human face and gentle laughter.</p><p>“The full removal?”</p><p>His bard shakes his head, nudging Geralt’s face. He smiles, relieved beyond belief, before looking at Yennefer. She’s watching them with something strange in her violet eyes, but Geralt has other things to worry about now.</p><p>“Can you…” he trails off, motioning towards Jaskier.</p><p>She sighs but kneels down again, grabbing Jaskier’s head in her hands. She forces him to meet her eyes and then Geralt feels the magic take hold and a brilliant light envelops his bard again.</p><p>“Fuck, that was an adventure,” he hears a familiar voice wgine and can’t help but smile when Jaskier sits upo with difficulties.</p><p>“Jaskier,” Geralt grunts, laying one hand on Jaskier’s back. The bard is wearing the same clothes he had on when the curse hit and maybe that’s better. He doesn’t like audience when being with Jaskier like that.</p><p>“You just can't help yourself, bard, can you?” Yennefer asks with a smirk, standing up to dusk her dress off.</p><p>Jaskier shrugs with a silly grin, that roguish one that always speaks of trouble. Geralt notices that his canines are a tiny bit sharper than they were before but well, that’s not really an issue. The Witcher likes biting anyway.</p><p>“Why would I avoid it when it brings you closer to us, witch?” Jaskier purrs playfully and they both snicker. Geralt still isn’t sure if they like each other.</p><p>“That was thrilling, but I have other business to attend,” Yen sighs. “Good luck. Get cursed more often, you live fascinating lives.”</p><p>Before Jaskier can splutter an outraged response, Yennefer is gone, leaving them alone in the clearing. The bard turns to him, opening his mouth to say something but Geralt has waited enough.</p><p>Carefully, he grabs his bard and pulls him into a deep kiss, swallowing his surprised gasp. It takes only a second for Jaskier to melt into him with a hum, fingers tangling in Geralt’s hair, legs straddling his thighs. They get lost in each other, before Jaskier pulls away.</p><p>“Your hair clearly needs some care, Geralt, you didn’t even brush it the whole time!” he exclaims, throwing his hands up.</p><p>The Witcher just grunts and kisses him again, getting lost in the warmth of Jaskier’s love. It’s nice to have his bard wholy human again.</p><p>Though, he thinks after seeing Jaskier pin a man down and close his jaws on his arm, the animal form isn’t half-bad either.</p>
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